After their first loss of the season, the Hornets will try and get redemption against the now despised Dallas Mavericks. This game will be telling of how the Hornets will handle adversity down the road. They were bound to lose a game or two sooner or later, but what we don’t know his how they will respond.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see a blowout. The fans in Dallas had tons of energy, and there was a clear target on the Hornets back. Now that the team has lost a game and is back in New Orleans, I just don’t see Dallas coming out with the same fire that they had last game. I also don’t see Chris Paul and David West allowing themselves to have such dismal second half performances again.
The crowd should be loud and the building should be rocking, so expect the best and if the worst happens, well, you know what to do afterward.
Hornets are five point favorites, and the over/under is set at 191. 65% of people are taking Dallas with points, and 95% of people are taking the over, surprisingly enough.
I (Joe) will be on the Daily Dime Chat throughout the game, so stop by if you have a minute and represent Hornets Nation.
Match-ups (stolen from Ryan’s last Game on since the teams are the same)
PG: Chris Paul v Jason Kidd
Advantage: Hornets
Kidd has been having a bit of an off year. Over the past couple seasons, he had developed a deadly three-point shot and continued to rebound the ball like few point guards can. This year, his rebounding numbers are way down, and his three point shot is falling at an average rate. Yes, he can still generate easy shots in the open floor, but other than as a spot up shooter, he’s pretty ordinary now. Chris Paul isn’t ordinary.
SG: Marco Belinelli v DeShawn Stevenson
Advantage: Hornets
Stevenson has been playing very well for the Mavericks, knocking down his open shots, and playing an important role as a tough wing defender for 20 minutes a game. Here’s the rub, however, he’s been a terrible shooter for three straight seasons prior to this one. Somehow, I don’t think his shooting efficiency(he’s the second most efficiency scorer on the Mavs) will continue. Marco’s efficiency should continue.
SF: Trevor Ariza v Shawn Marion
Advantage: Even
Marion rebounds well, runs the floor well, and defends adequately. His three point shot has deserted him, but he can still finish inside after cutting and receiving bounce passes from Kidd. Ariza’s defense is superior, and don’t look at his shooting percentages and dismiss him. He draws a reasonable number of free throws, and the number of threes he does manage to hit keeps his points per shot at least respectable.
PF: David West v Dirk Nowitzki
Advantage: Mavericks
West plays Nowitzki very well, since Nowitzki’s only advantage on him is his height, but Nowitzki does typically out play him by a few points and rebounds every game.  Both are proving to be very efficient this season. It should be a good battle.
C: Emeka Okafor v Tyson Chandler
Advantage: Even
Okafor has been playing very, very well, but Chandler is also having a tremendous impact on the Mavs. As always, he takes few shots, but he always generates a ton of points from them because they are dunks. He rebounds very well, defends the paint better than most centers in the league, and because the Mavs are somewhat deep, doesn’t have to play long minutes. These two guys will battle hard tonight. (On a side note, I’m glad to see Chandler healthy again. I just wish he was healthy somewhere other than in Dallas)
Bench
Mavericks: Jason Terry, Jose Juan Barea, Brendan Hayward, Brian Cardinal
Hornets: Willie Green, Jerryd Bayless, Jason Smith, Stojakovic, Pondexter, Pops, Mbenga
Advantage: Mavericks
Jason Terry is a phenomenal scorer, and Jose Juan Barea plays very well for all his physical limitations. I almost made this even, because Brendan Hayward has been awful this year and Jason Smith hasn’t, but I do think Terry more than counters that deficiency.
Michael Macnamara will be joining me for his first Hornets game as a member of Hornets247 (possibly ever, I haven’t asked) and I’ll be bringing my video camera, so who knows what might happen.
Also, I’ll try to clarify exactly how much of a meniscus Paul has left is his knee. The more you know…
Updates from the Arena
- Peja’s 17 point game on Monday was his first since 3/3/10.
- It was the first time he had hit four 3-pointers since 2/17/10
- Monty said they settled for too many three point attempts against the Mavs zone
- He also talked about how the Mavs were just more physical, citing when Bayless drove into the lane and got clobbered, but when Barea did it we barely touched him. “That can’t happen”.
Check out our TrueHoop friends/enemies- The Two Man Game
73 responses to “Game on: Mavs @ Hornets”
One of these days could you include Pops as a member of the bench. Not once have you included him this season 🙁
Come on Monty give Pops some PT.
changed!
Cool.
Enjoy the game.
At some point, and I know as fans we always wanna see it our way, but we’re just gonna have to trust the coach that has got us on the best start in franchise history. I love Thornton and I think we all do and I would rather see Pops get more minutes than Mbenga but we gotta just let that all go.
In Monty we trust…or at least I do!
Definitely interested in the Paul/Knee thing. Saw ESPN mention that the issue with Roy could be a tell of what might happen with Paul in the future.
It would be terrible to see his career cut short because of injuries. Even more so if his choice of recovery gambled his future against the present.
As for tonight, I anticipate this strange back to back against the Mavs working in our favor. I’m sure Paul is stewing over the loss and has been able to merge his hate for losing with his preparation for the next opponent which just happen to be the same team. I’m thinking he’s going to come out possessed and pissed, dismantling the Mavs and leading the team to a solid win.
Give ’em some Manny Pacquiao roids and he’ll be aight
I kid, I kid…
Joe, where did you get the betting percentages for people taking Dallas with the points?
Also, I trust that Monty will find a way to slow down Terry tonight, and there is no way Jason Smith can play any worse than he did Monday night. We breeze tonight.
Swing by the beer garden and I’ll grab you guys some beers!
It’s killing me to have to be out of town for work for this game! Y’all make some extra noise for me since the guy I gave my ticket to isn’t verg loud!
Chris Paul had a sit down with Ahmad Rashad today. My guess is it’s for Rashad’s “One on One with Ahmad Rashad” Show. I’ll be on the look out for it on NBA TV.
Joe, don’t forget to ask Chris about the Meniscus thing if you get the chance. I thought he still had most of his as well as apposed to the Roy “No meniscus”.
Prediction for the night.
I’m a little torn on this game. On one side I think the team will come out firing to take back what happened monday, but my personal opinion is that the mavs are just a better team than us and match up really nicely with our team. I honestly still think that marcus is the kind of player we need here tonight to give us some punch to combat the mavs, especially after going 5+min in the forth without scoring essentially losing us the game (in addition to poor substitutions). But besides the fact that marcus is in monty’s doghouse even though the coach wont man up and say it i think the hornets pull out a close one 99-97
good call steven haha
alright its official everything i say from now on is 100% correct …. my first comment marcus needs to play he will prove to everyone he is potential all star
HI Steven, can you give me like 6 numbers from 1-55? 😀
I’m finally getting a HD broadcast on my DirectTV 🙂
wow we’re playing terrible so far. attacking inside with tyson in the game is not going to work monty. tyson on david is really brilliant by dallas. work the pick and pop cp and d west.
ugh freaking defense horrible this quarter. not only that but the mavs are hitting EVERYTHING including well contested shots.
Nothing is falling for the bees this game…
Am I the only one who notices that Willie Green NEVER EVER passes once he’s within the 3 point arc?
14-40 from the field so far…. ur right monty dont play marcus
14-40 sounds like a Kobme Bryant stat
Defense? not great.
Offense? atrocious.
THIS IS WHEN YOU NEED MARCUS.
exactly … offense when the pick and roll doesnt work looks awful no one can create
and honestly i do not think belly is very good … i can see why he never played in toronto
there once i say that he hits the jumper…
Be careful Steven or the Belly super fans will come and get you. You see what happen in the last thread about Peja?
dumb foul….
Sounds like there’s no energy in the building….
we looked awful first half… and really monty u put pops in the game there, stupid.
the itallion stallion from somewhere on Bourbon Street
yea pops freaking momentum killer. and good god why cant we hit anything and Dallas hits ALL of their mid range jumpers??? its crazy
Another half another chance. Let’s go Hornets!
Damn, just arrived and i hoped this would be the other way around! wanted to chat a bit in DDL but cant find it, never liked/used espn web =X
I understand there’s a lot of users on here who get all bent out of shape when you compliment opposing players and teams, but I must say that Dallas has some of the nicest away unis in the NBA. That is all.
I actually like the new Jazz away unis alot on that note
The old school look is nice.
has anyone got a good stream that ISNT stuck on dirk about to shoot a free throw?
i had the same and it works now
atdhe, right?
yeh both of em did it, as soon as i hit post i heard gil mcgregors deep ole voice start talkin again lol
Oh how the tides have changed this game
Seems i arrived for the good half =)
Smith must love getting his ass kicked by Dirk.
MARCO!!!!
HiMyNameisStevenAndImAnIdiot
himynameisollieandiwishiwassteven
Please, not again. Buckle down and defend. Winning time!
Alot of yall was saying Marco should have been in the game at the end of the 4th Monday, instead of Willie. Yall are looking so right tonight. Hope we can hang on to this lead!
Bayless looks distant and bummed out on the side. Is it that he isnt happy with his production tonight? Or lack of playing time?? We need everyone happy and on the same page! He looks distant.
might be cos he sucks?
I think I am jumping on the MT5 boat…we need to try him and Willie Green. Bayless isn’t ready, and his D is nothing impressive to me.
its because monty is actually his bayless’s dad
stupid fouls
I dont know about yall…but I want Tyson back next season. Why not have our own two headed center monster! Okafor and TC!
did peja just miss? omg
Deja Vu….roles reversed??
What just happened?
does he not know how to make a T with his hands?
Isn’t this not the first time Ariza made a poor decision passing the ball in??? Why is he still having that role on the team???? GOSH!
Peja’s cement filled shoes couldn’t catch Trev’s pass. Wow.
WEST WITH THE D!?!?!??!
Fluffy!
WEST WITH THE STEAL!!!! WEST WITH THE STEAL!!! lol
Whew! 9-1!
One of the Honeybees just smacked Jason Terry with a pom pom. Ha!
That was a good game. My heart was beating so hard. Glad its over and glad we got the win. YEZZIR!
i think chandler was in on it. trying help his former team out
No Team allowed over 100 still…
Thumbs UP
please everyone look above at my prediction for the game
Awesome. Gotta love the hustle and resiliency.
9-1!!!!!
FS Southwest Post Game Interview
Reporter: Coach why did you lose this game?
Carlisle: “Our undoing was the 3rd quarter when we were DOMINATED….when you lose a quarter by 16 points you’re getting you AAS KICKED.”
🙂
Type of game where you can see why we need another big. I don’t get why West kept going into the paint in the first half. Guy has such a sweet mid range jumper. He needed to shoot it more from there rather than attacking Dirk and Tyson. Run that pick and pop which worked so well in the opener.